Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned on Tuesday, ending days of speculations about a leadership change in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled hill state amid reports of discontent against him. Rawat submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya at the Raj Bhawan here upon his arrival from Delhi after meeting the central BJP leadership. His resignation comes nine days before the BJP government completes four years in power.
Here is all you need to know what prompted the move:
• Following Rawat’s resignation, there has been a rebellion in the ranks against his Gairsain commissionerate move.
• Rawat addressed a press conference at his official residence, telling the media that the party has “collectively decided” that someone else should lead the state now. He said he comes from a humble background and never even imagined his party will give him the honour of serving Uttarakhand for nearly four years as a chief minister.
• State BJP leaders said that the political crisis began on Friday when Rawat announced Gairsain as the third administrative division in Uttarakhand without consulting even his cabinet colleagues.
• One of Rawat’s minister, further, called the Gairsain commissionerate decision a “unilateral announcement” that had huge political ramifications as people in Kumaon were against such a move.
• Besides, Rawat’s inability to connect with the local party cadre is also believed to another reason for his resignation. Party leaders have reportedly been miffed with Rawat’s style of functioning.
• As many as 13 lawmakers in the past had written to the BJP’s central leadership against Rawat’s work style, accusing him of “not listening to them”.
• “Bureaucrats are running the government and we are not being heard,” former Uttarakhand BJP chief Bishan Singh Chuphal wrote in a letter to Nadda in December last year.
• On Saturday, Rawat was called to Dehradun from Gairsain to attend an emergency core committee meeting, in which 45 of the party’s 56 MLAs participated.
• “He was clearly told that he would be replaced and there was growing resentment against him,” said a party leader.
• According to a central BJP leader, an internal party survey showed the BJP was losing ground due to Rawat despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity in the state.
• Uttarakhand’s BJP in-charge Dushyant Gautam said “Rawat would be accommodated in the national BJP and would have important responsibilities.”
• Governor Baby Rani Maurya accepted his resignation. Rawat will hold the post till the new chief minister takes charge.
• The BJP will decide on his replacement on Wednesday morning. State minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, and Lok Sabha member Ajay Bhatt are among the front runners for the post.
• A meeting of party legislators has been called in Dehradun on Wednesday to elect a new leader of the legislative party, who will then be administered the oath of office as the new chief minister.
Rawat became the chief minister of Uttarakhand on March 18, 2017 when the BJP stormed to power, winning 57 of the state’s 70 Assembly seats. The central BJP leadership had recently sent Raman Singh and Dushayant Gautam to the state to get feedback from the party’s core group amid reports of discontent against the chief minister, as the state enters a poll year.
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